Meadowbrooke Church

Meadowbrooke Church
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Podcast for Meadowbrooke Church Season 1 - Identity (Ephesians) Season 2 - Christians Say the Darnedest Things - Season 2 Season 3 - The Shepherd (Psalm 23) Season 4 - Faith & Works (James) Season 5 - Guest Speakers Season 6 - The Tree Season 7 - Unassigned Season 8 - Revelation

  1. 3d ago

    The Safety of the Lamb

    We now come to the passage in the Bible that some of you have heard so much about. For some of you, you are already familiar with the story of how God miraculously healed me, so I will not spend much time retelling it. However, there is something I have not talked much about, and it has to do with my response to this passage in Revelation 7:9-17. When I was serving as the senior pastor at Northwest Baptist Church, the pressure of ministry began to affect me in ways I did not expect. The church was in a difficult season, and I was carrying a lot. Anxiety began to take a toll on my health. Because of my family history, my doctor sent me to a cardiologist, who ordered a CT scan in 2007. The results were sobering. The scan showed seven areas of calcified plaque in my left coronary artery, and my calcium score was higher than ninety percent of men my age. I was only thirty-two years old, and because my dad died when he was forty-seven, you can imagine where my mind went. Suddenly, I was scheduled for a cardiac catheterization, wondering whether I was going to die young like my father. That Friday morning, before a Converge Rocky Mountain regional gathering, I prayed a simple prayer: “Lord, would You encourage me from Your Word?” Then I opened my Bible, and it opened to Revelation 7:9–12. I read about the great multitude no one could number, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and the Lamb, crying out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Honestly, nothing happened. I read it, closed my Bible, and went on with my day. I believed Revelation was the Word of God, but I had mostly learned to read it as a book about future events, so I did not yet grasp the pastoral comfort God had placed in this vision. The next morning, as we sang “How Great Is Our God,” the imagery of Revelation 7 rushed back to me. It was as though the Lord gently pressed a question into my heart: “Keith, do you understand what awaits you if you die?” That was the question I had missed. I had read Revelation 7 as a future scene, but I had not yet learned to receive it as comfort for the present. In that moment, the fear began to lift—not because I knew what would happen during the catheterization, but because the Lord reminded me of where I was going if I belonged to the Lamb. If I lived, I belonged to Christ. If I died, I would be with Christ. Either way, my future was secure. The following week, during the cardiac catheterization, the cardiologist paused and said, “Keith, there’s nothing there.” The plaque that had appeared on the CT scan was gone. I cannot explain it medically, but I believe God, in His mercy, protected me. Yet the gift God gave me in that season was not only more years. He also began to open my eyes to this book’s purpose. Revelation is not merely a book for charting future events. It is given to strengthen the church by showing us Jesus Christ. It is for suffering, anxious, grieving, persecuted, and weary saints who need to be reminded that the Lamb is on the throne. Revelation 7:9–17 shows us where every person who belongs to the Lamb is headed. The people of the Lamb will stand before the throne. They will be clothed in white. They will worship. They will be sheltered by God. They will hunger no more. They will thirst no more. The Lamb will be their Shepherd. God Himself will wipe away every tear from their eyes. What I did not understand then is that this passage not only gives us a glimpse of heaven; it also comforts every Christian from every generation. This passage is for me, and it is for you.   God is the Keeper of Salvation (vv. 9-12) As we saw last week, John hears the number of God’s sealed people described as 144,000 from the tribes of Israel (Rev. 7:4–8), but when he looks, he sees a great multitude no one can number from every nation, tribe, people, and language (v. 9). These are not two separate peoples of God; they are Jews and Gentiles gathered into one redeemed people through Israel’s Messiah. The promise God gave to Abraham—that “all the families of the earth” would be blessed through him (Gen. 12:3)—has come to full bloom through Christ, the Lamb who purchased people for God “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9–10). Now, in Revelation 7, that redeemed people stands before the throne and the Lamb, where no one in Revelation 6 could stand (Rev. 6:17; 7:9). After God mercifully spared me and the doctors found my left coronary artery clear, one of the first people I told was Ed Hardesty. He said, “Remember, son, just as quickly as God removed that plaque from your arteries, He can put it right back again.” That was a word I needed to hear. God had not healed me so that I could go on living as though my life belonged to me. He had healed me for a purpose, and that purpose is centered around His mission.  But there was another lesson for me right there in Revelation 7. Why does John first hear the people of God described as 144,000 sons of Israel before he sees them as a multitude from the nations? The list has the feel of a census, and more specifically, a military census. In Numbers 1, Israel was counted by tribe according to the number of men able to go to war (Num. 1:2–3), and that census begins with Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn. But Revelation 7 begins with Judah, because from Judah came the Lion who is also the Lamb (Rev. 5:5). In other words, Revelation is not merely giving us a headcount of redeemed Jewish men; it is giving us a Christ-centered picture of the people of God gathered and ordered around the conquering Lamb. Scripture also connects wartime readiness with consecration. When David and his men needed bread, Ahimelech asked whether the young men had kept themselves from women, and David answered that they had, because they were on a holy mission (1 Sam. 21:4–5). Later, when David tried to cover up his sin with Bathsheba, Uriah refused to go home to his wife while Israel’s army was in the field. He said, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths… Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife?” (2 Sam. 11:11). Uriah understood something David had forgotten: a soldier at war does not live as though the war does not exist. That background also helps us when we come to Revelation 14, where the 144,000 are described in the ESV and NIV as those “who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins” (Rev. 14:4). That wording can be misleading if we assume John is referring only to literal unmarried men. The Greek word translated “virgins” is parthenoi, from parthenos, which can refer to virginity but can also carry the idea of chastity or purity. This is why the NASB2020 translates Revelation 14:4, “These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are celibate.” The point is not that only unmarried men belong to the Lamb, or that these men are a specific group of virgin men who will be saved in the future. The point is symbolic. Revelation portrays the 144,000 as a consecrated people whose allegiance to the Lamb is marked by purity, devotion, and wartime faithfulness. They have not given themselves over to spiritual adultery with Babylon; they belong wholly to the Lamb. This is what I missed for so many years. The census of the 144,000 sons of Israel represents the great multitude redeemed from the nations, and their devotion to the Lamb includes a wartime ethic. Paul says, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil,” because “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood” (Eph. 6:11–12). This ethic runs throughout Revelation. Jesus told the church in Smyrna, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (2:10). The martyrs under the altar had been slain “for the word of God and for the witness they had borne” (6:9). Revelation 12 says the people of God conquered the dragon “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,” because “they loved not their lives even unto death” (12:11). Revelation 14 describes the 144,000 as those who “follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (14:4). Revelation 18 calls God’s people to “come out of her... lest you take part in her sins” (18:4). How is the Christian able to remain faithful with a wartime ethic? They are able to resist because they have the seal of God upon them. It is the One on the throne who is keeping those who belong to Him (John 10:27-30), and it is He who promises to complete the work He is doing in and through them, for Paul wrote of this very thing: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). Listen, salvation in the Bible is not only the forgiveness of sins and pardon from the wrath of God; it also includes the promise that those sealed by the Spirit belong to God and will be kept until the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13-14; 1 Pet. 1:5).  This is why the redeemed multitude of both Jews and Gentiles from the nations cry out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev. 7:10).  And this is why all the angels around the throne and the four living creatures fall on their faces in worship of God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen” (v. 12).    Salvation is for the Christian to Experience (vv. 13-17) Now, the other thing I did not recognize in 2007 but discovered while tracing the parallels in Revelation has been right in front of me all these years—and I missed it. For years, I assumed the great multitude in Revelation 7 described only the martyred saints from the fifth seal, those who were slain for the word of God and for the witness they h

    48 min

  2. Jun 7

    The People of the Lamb

    In the 1870s, Charles Taze Russell began leading Bible classes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a small group that came to be known as Bible Students. In 1879, he began publishing a Bible journal later known as The Watch Tower. Then, in 1884, he incorporated what became the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. Through Russell’s publishing work, the movement spread beyond Pennsylvania and eventually laid the foundation for what later became Jehovah’s Witnesses under Joseph Rutherford. Russell rejected several historic Christian doctrines, including eternal conscious punishment in hell and, most seriously, the doctrine of the Trinity. After Russell died in 1916, Rutherford became president of the Watch Tower Society in 1917. Under his leadership, the movement became more centralized and aggressive in its evangelism, and in 1931 the name Jehovah’s Witnesses was adopted. The Watch Tower Society is not merely another Christian denomination. It is a cult that rejects essential doctrines of the Christian faith, including the Trinity and the full deity of Jesus Christ. To be clear, misunderstanding Revelation 7 or using poor hermeneutical principles does not automatically mean someone will develop a cult or reject the core tenets of the Christian faith as Russell, Rutherford, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses have done. Many faithful Christians have differed over the meaning of the 144,000. But the Watch Tower Society shows us why careful interpretation matters. When Scripture is mishandled repeatedly and forced into a system, the results can be spiritually dangerous. Revelation 7 is one of the passages central to their teaching. Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that the 144,000 in Revelation 7 and 14 are a literal number of anointed Christians who will be resurrected to heavenly life to reign with Christ as kings and priests. They also teach that the great multitude in Revelation 7:9–12 is a separate group with an earthly hope—those who survive Armageddon and live on a restored earth. I mention this because Revelation 7 shows us why context matters. When this chapter is separated from the question at the end of Revelation 6, it can be made to say things John is not saying. John is not trying to create two separate classes of God’s people. He is answering the question, “Who can stand?” So as we come to this passage, we need to pay careful attention to what John hears and sees, allowing Scripture itself to serve as our primary commentary before we look to any system to determine the meaning of the text.   The People of the Lamb are Sealed by God (vv. 1-8) At the end of Revelation 6, with the opening of the sixth seal and the first description of the Day of the Lord, we are left with one of the book’s most haunting questions: “for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Rev. 6:17). The kings of the earth cannot stand. The powerful cannot stand. The wealthy cannot stand. The strong cannot stand. Neither slave nor free can stand, as all hide among the rocks and mountains, begging creation to conceal them from the face of Him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. So who can stand? Revelation 7 gives the answer. Before the seventh seal is opened, John is shown another vision, but do not think of this vision as occurring strictly after the sixth seal and before the opening of the seventh. Instead, if the seals were acts in a theatrical production, what happens in Revelation 7 shows us what is happening behind the curtain sometime during the sixth seal and before the seventh. Throughout Revelation, the visions often pause, circle back, or open a new window to help us understand more clearly what God is doing. In this case, Revelation 7 functions as an interlude between the sixth and seventh seals, answering the question raised at the end of chapter 6. John then sees four angels who are “standing at the four corners of the earth,” each holding “back the four winds of the earth” (v. 1). We are told they do this so that no wind blows on the earth, sea, or any tree. What John sees is not four angels manipulating the weather. Likewise, the four corners of the earth is not a description of the earth’s shape or design. As you are aware, the number four often points to the created order in Scripture. What you may not be aware of is that the four winds frequently symbolize judgment. Because Revelation is a picture book rather than a puzzle book, the image John sees is one of restraint. The message conveyed is that judgment is being held back. Listen, every day before the final Day is a day of mercy, a day of restraint, and a day for the Lamb to gather His people. What is being shown and communicated to us in these verses is that we are living in a time of divine restraint as we move closer to the Day of the Lord. The world is not free from judgment, but the final winds of judgment have not yet been unleashed. What judgment is being held back? The judgment described in the sixth seal. As to why it is being held back, we do not have to wait long for an answer, because in the very next verse we are told that a fifth angel, ascending from the rising of the sun, declares with a loud voice: “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads” (v. 3). Do you now see why context is so important? The angel’s declaration answers the question, “Who can stand?” Those who can stand are those who belong to God. Before judgment is unleashed, God marks His people as His own. The earth, sea, and trees are not harmed until the servants of God are sealed. This does not mean God’s people will avoid all suffering, for we have already seen in the fifth seal the souls under the altar crying out in a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long...” (Rev. 6:10). What it does mean is that the coming judgment will not sweep God’s people away under His wrath, for He knows who belongs to Him. The four winds of God’s judgment do not descend upon the earth in blind rage. When God executes justice, His wrath is holy, measured, and righteous. He does not fly off the handle. Before the wrath of the Lamb is poured out, the people of the Lamb are sealed by the God who embraces them as His children. This distinction is not new in Scripture. In Exodus 12, God distinguished His people from Egypt by the blood of the lamb. A stronger parallel appears in Ezekiel 9, where God marked those who grieved over Jerusalem’s sin before judgment fell on the nation. In both cases, God identified those who belonged to Him before judgment fell on the wicked. This is what is happening in Revelation 7. The seal on the foreheads of God’s servants is not a literal, physical mark. It signifies that they belong to the living God. This language appears throughout the New Testament. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1 that those who believe in Christ are “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Eph. 1:13). This sealing is possible because of the blood Jesus shed on the cross as the Lamb of God, and it is received by faith (Eph. 2:1–9). The seal is God’s mark of ownership, assurance, and future inheritance. It is not first a statement about the strength of our faith in Him, but about the certainty of God’s possession. He promises never to let His redeemed go (John 10:27–30). Those who belong to the Lamb are not hidden from God, forgotten by God, or abandoned in the day of trouble. They belong to God. This all seems clear enough, but the passage can become confusing when it says that those who are sealed are also numbered. Verse 4 says, “And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel” (v. 4). Here, we must not only pay careful attention to the context of Revelation 7 but also do what Revelation has already taught us to do: pay attention to what John hears and what John sees.  What John hears is “the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel” (v. 4). Many have understood this as a literal number of ethnic Israelites, primarily because John goes on to name the tribes in a specific order. Some believe the 144,000 are a specific group of ethnic Jewish Christians who come to faith in Jesus during a future seven-year tribulation and serve as evangelists after the rapture. I understand why many read it that way, but there are some problems with that interpretation. First, Revelation 7 functions as an interlude—a symbolic pause within the vision—rather than a chronological sequence following the great Day of the Lord described in 6:12–17. Second, Revelation often follows a pattern in which what John sees clarifies what he first hears. So before we assume the 144,000 is a literal headcount, we need to pay attention to how numbers and images function in this book. Listen, the number twelve is associated with the people of God—the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The number one thousand signifies immensity, fullness, and completeness. This is why the psalmist describes God’s ownership by saying, “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills” (Ps. 50:10). It is not that God only owns the cattle on one thousand hills and not hill number one thousand and one. The point is fullness. Everything belongs to Him. Likewise, when Moses speaks of God’s covenant faithfulness, he says, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations...” (Deut. 7:9). So, what do you get when you take the twelve tribes of Israel, multiply them by the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and then multiply that by the fullness of the covenant-keeping faithfulness of God (12x12x1000)? You get 144,000. In other words, this is not about limiting the people of Go

    44 min

  3. Jun 1

    Who Can Stand?

    During the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, He was asked by His disciples, “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matt. 24:3). As you are already aware, Jesus warned that before His coming there would be false christs claiming to be Him, wars and rumors of wars, nations rising against nations, kingdoms rising against kingdoms, famines, and earthquakes in various places. Jesus said these things would be “the beginning of birth pains” leading up to the end (Matt. 24:1–8). After describing the abomination of desolation, which I believe was fulfilled in connection with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, Jesus then looked beyond those days to the Day of His coming: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt. 24:29-31) What Jesus describes in Matthew 24 is the same basic pattern Revelation shows us through the seals, trumpets, and bowls. These judgment cycles are not three unrelated timelines. They recapitulate the same period from different angles, each cycle intensifying until we arrive at what Scripture calls “the Day of the Lord.” The Day of the Lord is the day when God steps into history to judge the wicked, vindicate His people, and reveal that every kingdom of the world belongs to Him. This phrase appears throughout the Bible, and one of the clearest Old Testament passages behind Revelation 6 is Isaiah 2:10–19, where the proud hide in the rocks from the terror of the Lord when He rises to shake the earth: Go into the rocks and hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty. The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted— it will be humbled.... So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, and the idols will vanish completely. Men will flee to caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth. That is exactly the kind of imagery John sees when the Lamb opens the sixth seal. The proud are humbled. The mighty are terrified. The earth is shaken. Every false refuge collapses. And the question at the end of Revelation 6 is not, “How powerful are the kings of the earth?” or “How secure are the kingdoms of this world?” The question is: “Who is able to stand?” Before each major judgment cycle in Revelation, John is shown a heavenly throne-room scene marked by storm imagery. And just as birth pains grow stronger as the birth draws near, the storm imagery intensifies as Revelation moves toward the final judgment. You can see this intensification in the way Revelation describes the storm coming from the throne:   Revelation 4:5 Revelation 8:5 Revelation 11:19 Revelation 16:18, 21 Out from the throne came flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God;   Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and hurled it to the earth; and there were peals of thunder and sounds, and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.   And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.   And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since mankind came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.... 21 And huge hailstones, weighing about a talent each, came down from heaven upon people; and people blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because the hailstone plague was extremely severe.   We will look at each of these passages as we encounter them throughout this series. For now, all I want you to see is that each cycle of judgment describes a series of judgments that intensify the closer we come to what the Bible calls the Day of the Lord. History is not spinning out of control. There are no rogue molecules. Kings and rulers may strive after whatever they desire, but at the end of the day, Proverbs 21:1 is still true: “The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases” (BSB). The same kings and rulers who seem so powerful now will one day cry out for the mountains and rocks to hide them from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb (Rev. 6:15–16). Listen to me. Last week, when we looked at the opening of the fifth seal, we saw those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had maintained. They cried out, “How long, O Lord?” But they were not questioning God’s character. Their question was not about if God would judge, but when He would judge. And when the sixth seal is opened, John sees the answer. Jesus breaks the sixth seal, as He has with the previous five, serving as another reminder that all that has happened and will happen is under His sovereign will. Jesus’ second coming will be cosmic, comprehensive, and conclusive.   The Day of the Lord will be Cosmic (vv. 12-14) When the Lamb opens the sixth seal, creation shakes. John sees a great earthquake, the sun blackened, the moon turning like blood, the stars falling to the earth, the sky rolling up like a scroll, and every mountain and island moved from its place. If we count the mountains and islands separately, John gives us a sevenfold picture of cosmic upheaval: earthquake, sun, moon, stars, sky, mountains, and islands. In a book where the number seven repeatedly signifies fullness, the point is clear: nothing in the cosmos will remain unmoved on the Day of the Lord. John is not giving us a scientific report of future astronomical events. He is using apocalyptic language to describe the severity of the judgment that will come when Jesus returns, especially the wrath that cities, nations, and empires will face when the true King of kings and Lord of lords comes to claim what belongs to Him. When Babylon fell, Isaiah spoke of the stars of heaven not giving their light, the sun being darkened, the moon not shining, the heavens trembling, and the earth being shaken out of its place (Isa. 13:9–13). When Egypt was judged, Ezekiel spoke of the heavens being covered, the stars being darkened, the sun being covered with a cloud, and the moon not giving its light (Ezek. 32:7–8). This does not mean there will be no supernatural, cataclysmic events that affect the cosmos at Jesus’ coming. It simply means John’s main point is not to satisfy our curiosity about the mechanics of the end, but to show us the severity of the judgment. John joins Isaiah and Jesus in using apocalyptic language to describe what is coming, but his words point to more than mere symbolism. The language used to describe the judgment of Egypt, Babylon, Jerusalem, and Rome pointed to very real and very severe judgments in history. But what John describes in the sixth seal points beyond those temporal judgments to the great and final Day of the Lord, when God will judge the wicked, vindicate His people, and reveal that every kingdom of the world belongs to Him. On the Day of the Lord, the world mankind trusted in, built upon, exploited, and worshiped will not shelter him from the One who made it all. Richard Phillips is right to describe verses 12–14 as a kind of “de-creation.”[1] The old world, corrupted by Adam’s sin and condemned for rejecting God’s Son, will be shaken so that the new creation promised by God may come. John sees that everything that once seemed fixed, permanent, immutable, and dependable is shaken before the presence of God. When the Lamb breaks the sixth seal, creation comes undone.   The Day of the Lord will be Comprehensive (vv. 15-16) If verses 12–14 give us a sevenfold picture of creation being shaken, verses 15–16 give us a sevenfold picture of humanity being exposed. The point is unmistakable: from kings to slaves, from the powerful to the powerless, from the highest throne to the lowest status in life, no one is exempt. The Day of the Lord will be comprehensive. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” All classes of society are mentioned in these verses. All are judged not by their status in the world but by their standing before the One on the throne and by whether they have been covered by the blood of the Lamb. Salvation cannot be found in wealth. It does not come from what one has accomplished in life. Nor is salvation automatically given to the poor, the slave, or the homeless simply because they had little or nothing on earth. The problem of mankind is a problem of the soul and the heart. All are born in sin, all are in rebellion, all are unrighteous, all are spiritually dead,

    52 min

  4. May 24

    How Long, O Lord?

    My friend Shana Reif suffered from Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disease that primarily affects the lungs and other organs. It causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the airways, leading to repeated infections, inflammation, and progressive lung damage. In many cases, the disease can advance until the lungs can no longer do what God created them to do—bring oxygen into the body and sustain life. Cystic Fibrosis is a horrible and incurable disease, and it was the disease Shana endured all her life. When she was born, her parents were told she would not live much past her twentieth birthday. But Shana lived to be thirty-two. I came to know Shana in high school, not long after I became a follower of Jesus. After high school, we became very close friends. She edited my Bible college papers, and I visited her often during her many hospital stays. I also visited her at home as she recovered from the latest infection. By 2003, her lungs had been so damaged by chronic infections that she was placed on the waiting list for new lungs. She received a double lung transplant in 2004, but even then, her suffering did not fully end. Her body remained fragile. Her fight continued. But Shana loved Jesus. Though she struggled deeply with her disease, she held onto the hope of the gospel. One of the last emails I received from her was signed with words from her favorite hymn: “Great is Thy faithfulness.” In 2007, Shana died from complications after a procedure to reopen a constricted airway. When someone you love suffers like that, the question “How long?” is not theoretical. How long will disease ravage bodies? How long will death take those we love? How long will God’s people suffer in a world still broken by sin? How long before Christ makes all things new? Revelation 6:9–11 brings us to that question. But here, the cry comes specifically from those who have been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they maintained.   The Martyrs: The Cost of Their Witness (v. 9) There are three cycles of judgment in Revelation: the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls. These cycles do not unfold in strict linear succession—seals, then trumpets, then bowls—but recapitulate the same period of history with increasing intensity, like birth pains. For our purposes, I simply want you to notice one pattern that helps us understand what is happening in this passage. In each cycle—the seals, trumpets, and bowls—the first four judgments affect the world in broad, visible ways, but the fifth shifts the focus. The fifth seal shows the saints crying out for justice (Rev. 6:9–11). The fifth trumpet shows judgment beginning to fall on the enemies of God—those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads (Rev. 9:1–12; especially 9:4). The fifth bowl shows judgment reaching the very throne of the beast, whose kingdom wages war against all who refuse to worship him (Rev. 16:10–11; cf. Rev. 13:7–8, 15). This is why the first four seals show us the horsemen riding across the earth. But when the fifth seal is opened, the focus shifts from what is happening on earth to what heaven sees when God’s people suffer because of the word of God and the testimony they maintain. These martyrs are not beneath the altar because they were victims of history. They are there because they belonged to the Lamb and remained faithful to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Their witness cost them their lives. John is showing us what Jesus had already told His disciples: “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24; NASB). The fifth seal reminds us that following Jesus is not merely a call to believe certain truths about Him; it is a call to bear faithful witness to those truths, even when obedience is costly. Polycarp is said to have been a disciple of the apostle John and later became the bishop of Smyrna. Smyrna, you may remember, was one of the seven churches Jesus addressed in Revelation. Jesus told that suffering church, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). Years later, Polycarp was arrested and ordered to deny Christ. When pressed to renounce Jesus, he replied, “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?” Polycarp’s witness cost him his life, but heaven did not see his death as Rome did. Rome saw a criminal to be silenced. Heaven saw a faithful witness beneath the altar. And we do not have to go back to Polycarp to see this kind of witness. You may remember the twenty-one Coptic Christians who were taken by ISIS in Libya and led onto a beach in orange jumpsuits. They were ordinary men who refused to renounce their faith in Jesus. Their blood was shed on earth, but Revelation 6 reminds us that heaven did not miss a drop. The world saw men being led to execution. Heaven saw faithful witnesses beneath the altar. Since 2015, conservative estimates suggest that more than 50,000 Christians have been killed for faith-related reasons around the world. According to Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List, North Korea remains the most dangerous country in the world to be a Christian, while Nigeria is the deadliest, accounting for 3,490 of the 4,849 Christians killed for their faith during the latest reporting period. The seals describe the birth pains that mark this present age. The first four seals show us a world marked by conquest, war, famine, and death. But when the fifth seal is opened, we are shown what heaven sees when God’s people suffer because of the word of God and the testimony they maintain.   The Altar: The Cry Before God (v. 10) Notice that John not only tells us that these faithful Christ-followers suffered and died for their faith, but also tells us where he saw these Christians. They are “under the altar.” This is a crucial detail that you can only understand if you know something about the Old Testament tabernacle that God told Moses to build. Scripture tells us that the earthly tabernacle was a copy and shadow of the one in heaven (Heb. 8:4-5; Exod. 25-31; 35-40). So when John sees an altar in heaven, he is not seeing something new, but the heavenly reality to which Israel’s worship had always pointed. Within the tabernacle, there were two primary altars. The bronze altar stood in the courtyard, where sacrifices were offered. The altar of incense stood near the Most Holy Place, close to the ark of the covenant, which represented the throne of God. Both altars help us understand what John sees. The blood of the sacrifice was poured at the altar’s base, and the incense rising before the Lord symbolized the prayers of God’s people ascending into His presence. So when John sees the souls of the martyrs beneath the altar, he sees their lives as precious before God and their prayers as heard before His throne. In the earthly tabernacle, a veil stood between the priests and God's immediate presence. But in heaven, no curtain hides His throne from His redeemed people. The martyrs are not far from God. They are beneath the altar, before the throne, and in the presence of the Lord God Almighty. Now, picture what is happening before John’s eyes. Those who suffered the ultimate cost for following Jesus are not behind the altar, nor are they on top of the altar. These saints are under the altar, which tells us that they are closest to the throne. Also, the martyrs are not passive, but are actively pleading for vindication in God’s heavenly court. There is no magical language here, for their cries are raw and honest. There is no anger hurled before God,  but cries of vindication in light of their understanding of who God is!  Notice what these dear saints include in their prayer: “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true...” Now let’s stop there for a moment. The ESV translates the word well as “Sovereign Lord.” The Greek word used here is not the most common term for Lord, kyrios, but despotēs, and this is the only time it appears in the entire book of Revelation. The word these martyred saints use conveys absolute ownership, supreme authority, and sovereign mastery. We get our English word despot from this word, but while despot usually carries a negative meaning in English, that is not the case when despotēs is used of God in the New Testament. When used of God, it emphasizes His complete authority over creation, His servants, history, judgment, and justice. This matters because these Christians are not merely crying out to God as sufferers, asking whether He cares. They are crying out to the One they know to be the Sovereign Master over all things. They are appealing to the One who has the authority to judge, avenge, vindicate, and bring history to its appointed end. They are not crying out in doubt. They are crying out in faith. They know He is able. They know He is holy. They know He is true. And they know that the Sovereign Lord will do what is right. Notice what the saints attribute to God next.  Not only is He the Sovereign Master, but He is holy. These saints who have suffered much understand that their God is utterly set apart from all evil, corruption, compromise, and injustice. He is not like the kingdoms and the kings of this world. He is not indifferent to injustice and the bloodshed at the hands of the wicked. He is not morally conflicted. He is pure in all His judgments, righteous in all His ways, and completely opposed to everything wicked. He is holy and these saints know it!  God is not only holy; He is also true. When these saints plead their case before the throne of God, they do so knowing that He is faithful to all He has promised. He does not forget. He does not make empty threats or hollow promises. What He has spoken, He will do (Num. 23:19; Josh. 21:45; Isa. 55:10–11; Titus 1:2; Heb. 10:23). So when these martyrs cry, “How long?” they are not

    45 min

  5. May 17

    The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

    We all wear glasses in this room. I am not referring to your contacts or the physical glasses your eye doctor prescribed. I am referring to your worldview—the lenses through which you interpret everything you see: God, yourself, others, suffering, evil, history, the purpose of life, and the future. In our world today, people use a wide range of worldviews to make sense of reality. Theism holds that a personal God created and rules the world. Naturalism holds that the physical universe is all that exists. Pantheism identifies God with the world or sees God as present in everything. Postmodernism treats truth as personal, socially constructed, or tied to power. Nihilism holds that life has no ultimate meaning, purpose, or moral order. Most people do not wear only one pair of glasses. They switch lenses depending on what suits them—a little theism for comfort, a little secularism for control, a little skepticism against authority, and a little self-rule for freedom. It may feel meaningful in the moment, but it cannot finally correct the vision problem. It still leaves reality blurred. One of the clearest symbols of modern humanity’s hope was the World Trade Center. It took twelve years, from the earliest design stages in 1961 to the ribbon-cutting in 1973, to complete the Twin Towers, at a cost of about $900 million. The chief architect, Minoru Yamasaki, said the World Trade Center should become “a living representation of man’s belief in humanity, his need for individual dignity, his belief in the cooperation of men, and through this cooperation his ability to find greatness.” That is a remarkable statement. The towers were meant to say something about us: our greatness, dignity, cooperation, and our ability to build a better world. Yet on September 11, 2001, it took less than two hours for those towers to fall, and nearly 3,000 lives were lost. Brothers and sisters, that is not merely a tragedy in American history. It is a parable of the world we inhabit. We live in a world of conflict, bloodshed, injustice, suffering, and death. We build towers and call them peace. We create systems and call them progress. We trust power, wealth, cooperation, technology, politics, and human greatness to bring stability. Yet again and again, the world proves unable to save itself.  What we need is a biblical worldview—a way of seeing the world through the lens of God’s Word. Revelation pulls back the curtain on human history—past, present, and future—so we can see things as they really are. In Revelation 6:1–8, that curtain is drawn back on the world we know all too well: a world marked by conquest, war, famine, injustice, suffering, and death. Yet Revelation does not show us these things to make us despair. It shows us these things so we will see that the horsemen are permitted to ride only because the Lamb has the authority to open the seals. Before we go any further in this sermon, do not miss who opens each seal. It is not the horsemen. It is not the devil. It is not the antichrist. It is not kings, nations, armies, or empires. The Lamb alone has the authority to open the seals and to allow the horsemen to ride. As the Lamb opens the first four seals, do not think of the horsemen as strange figures waiting to be released in the distant future. Instead, think of them as the symbolic unveiling of the very world Jesus told us to expect—a world marked by conquest, violence, exploitation, and death. Yet Revelation 6 shows us something the evening news never can: the horsemen ride only because the Lamb opens the seals, and He alone is worthy to do so.   The Horsemen and the World Jesus Told Us to Expect  We are now entering a section of Revelation that may challenge how many of us have been taught to think about the end times. For many Christians, passages such as Revelation 6 and Matthew 24 have been interpreted almost entirely as future events, often within a framework known as the seven-year tribulation. Many have also been taught that the church will be removed from the earth before that tribulation begins. I realize that, for some of you, that may be the only framework for understanding the end times you have ever known. Faithful Christians have held different views on these matters, so my goal is not to mock what you have been taught or force you into a different system. My goal is simply to ask you to do what the Bereans did—to search the Scriptures and see whether these things are so (see Acts 17:10-11). What I want to show you is that Revelation 6 and Matthew 24 are not describing realities completely disconnected from the church’s present life. Jesus Himself told His disciples what this present age would look like: And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” (Matt. 24:4-8) Revelation 6 is not describing a strange world the church has never seen. It pulls back the curtain on the age Jesus described—a world marked by conquest, violence, exploitation, suffering, and death. The four horsemen symbolize realities that have marked human history since Christ’s ascension and will end when He returns. Yet Jesus’ words also keep us from hopeless despair. These things are not the end. They are birth pains. And as painful as birth pains are, they remind us that something is coming: the kingdom of Christ in all its fullness. Until that day, the horsemen ride. Like birth pains, the realities they represent continue throughout this age and increase in frequency and intensity as history moves toward the return of Christ and the birth of the new creation. But understand this: they do not roam at their own leisure. The Lamb reigns, and He alone has the authority to open the seals. So when the Lamb opens the seals and the four horsemen are revealed, we are shown the world Jesus told us to expect. But we are also shown what the world cannot see: conquest, violence, exploitation, and death are not rogue realities, nor do they unfold outside His sovereign will and authority.   The White Horse: The Lust for Conquest (vv. 1-2) There is some debate about what the rider on the white horse represents, largely because certain features seem to mirror the way Jesus appears in Revelation 19:11–16, particularly the white horse He rides and the crown He wears. Others believe the rider represents a false Christ or even the antichrist because he seems to mimic Jesus’ appearance. The problem with these views is twofold: first, Jesus is the One who opens each of the seals; and second, the remaining horsemen clearly represent forces of destruction rather than specific individuals. There are other suggestions, but the context of Revelation 6 suggests that the rider on the white horse belongs with the other three horsemen: war, famine, and death. Together, they represent the destructive realities that mark this present age. This connection may be reinforced by the first living creature who announces this horse and rider. Notice that the first living creature has the face of a lion, representing strength, majesty, and power among the wild creatures. It is this creature that introduces the rider on the white horse. If there is a symbolic connection between the creature who speaks and the horseman who appears, then the first horseman fittingly represents conquest—the lust of kings, nations, empires, and rulers to expand their power, secure their kingdoms, and impose their will on others. Unlike the kingdom Jesus will bring, this rider represents fallen humanity grasping for dominion apart from God. This horse and its rider promise peace but never deliver it. Their creed is simple: “If we can gain enough territory, enough power, enough influence, enough control, then we can secure the future.” But Revelation shows us the truth: conquest does not lead to peace. It prepares the way for the red horse.   The Red Horse: The Vandalism of Peace (vv. 3-4) The Lamb then opens the second seal. In response, the heavenly creature with the face of an ox, representing domesticated strength, service, and labor—the kind of creature people use to bring forth life from the earth—says, “Come!” Then the red horse appears, and its rider is permitted to take peace from the earth so that people may slay one another. If the white horse represents the lust for conquest, the red horse reveals what that lust produces. The world promises peace through power, but Revelation shows that power seized apart from God does not preserve peace; it vandalizes it. When God gives sinners over to themselves, the restraints that hold back violence are removed, and the human heart is exposed as it is and what it is capable of. This is why the rider is given a great sword, symbolizing violence, bloodshed, and the destructive force of war. From the first murder in Genesis 4 to the wars and rumors of wars Jesus said would mark this age like birth pains in Matthew 24, human history has been stained with the blood of those created in God’s image. Nations rise against nations. Kingdoms seek to outdo kingdoms. Brother turns against brother. Neighbor turns against neighbor. When sin-cursed humanity seeks dominion apart from God, even in the name of peace, peace is among the first casualties. Make no mistake: the rider on the red horse is not rogue. He is only “permitted” to take peace from the earth because the Lamb has authority to break the second seal. He does not seize the sword; he is “given” a great sword. The breaking of the second seal shows that even the violence of this age is not outside the s

    50 min

  6. May 10

    The Crescendo of Heaven

    About the same time the book of Revelation was written, a Jewish historian named Josephus, who was not a Christian, wrote about Jesus. Though the wording of the full passage has been debated, the basic testimony is striking: Jesus was known as a wise man, a worker of remarkable deeds, a teacher, one who gained followers, was crucified under Pilate, and whose followers did not disappear: “Around this time there lived Jesus, a wise man—if it is right to call him merely a man. He performed remarkable works and was a teacher of people who gladly received the truth. He attracted many Jews and many Gentiles. He was the Christ. When Pilate, at the urging of our leading men, condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him from the beginning did not abandon him. For he appeared to them alive again on the third day, just as the divine prophets had foretold this and many other wonderful things about him. And the tribe of Christians, named after him, has not disappeared to this day.” It is possible to know many true things about Jesus and still miss the weight of His worth. Josephus could describe Him as a wise man, a worker of remarkable deeds, a teacher, and one condemned to the cross. But Revelation 5 pulls back the curtain of heaven and shows us what all creation will one day confess: Jesus is not merely remarkable. He is worthy. The following is a list of twelve windows into the glory of the Lamb and why it is that He is worthy.  Jesus is worthy because He is Judah’s Lion (v. 5) Judah was a deeply flawed man who sold his younger brother Joseph into slavery, deceived his father, abandoned his daughter-in-law, and hid behind hypocrisy. But God changed Judah’s heart, and by Genesis 44, Judah was willing to sacrifice himself to save Benjamin, the youngest son who was dearly loved by their father. Later, Jacob blessed Judah with a promise that the promised serpent-stomping King would come through him: “Judah is a lion’s cub... The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to Him; and to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples” (Gen. 49:9–10). That promise finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Jesus is more than Judah’s descendant; He is Judah’s promised Lion—the true and better Judah who offered Himself as the sinless Substitute for His people. He is the One to whom the scepter belongs, the One before whom the obedience of the peoples will one day be gathered. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and He has conquered sin, death, and the dragon. Jesus is worthy because He is God’s Lamb (v. 6) We cannot have the Lion as our friend unless we first have Him as our Lamb, for Scripture declares, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb. 9:22; see Lev. 17:11). This theme runs throughout the Bible. In Genesis 22, Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice and asked, “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God will provide for Himself a lamb” (Gen. 22:7–8). In Exodus 12, Israel was sheltered from wrath by the blood of the spotless lamb, and in Isaiah 53, the suffering Servant is portrayed as the Lamb pierced, crushed, and slaughtered for the iniquities of guilty sinners. So when John the Baptist cried out, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), he summed up the promises and the point of the Old Testament. Jesus is the Lamb God provided, the Passover Lamb whose blood shelters His people from judgment, the sacrificial Lamb whose blood makes atonement, and the suffering Lamb who bears our sins. Apart from the blood of the Lamb, the Lion is not our comfort but our Judge. But for those covered by His blood, there is no condemnation. Those of us who have the Lamb know that the Lion is not against us but for us.  Jesus is worthy because He can take the scroll (v. 7) He alone has the right to receive and enact God’s plan to judge evil, redeem His people, and restore creation. The scroll contains the sovereign plan of the Lord God Almighty—the One who says in Isaiah 46: “I am God, and there is no other… declaring the end from the beginning… saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’” (Isa. 46:9–10). The scroll is in the right hand of this God, and when no one in heaven, on earth, or under the earth was found worthy to open it or even look into it, John wept bitterly. If the scroll remains sealed, God’s promises remain unfulfilled, sin and death are not finally defeated, the saints are not vindicated, and creation is not restored. But the Lion who is the Lamb came forth because He alone is worthy to open the scroll. He took it from the right hand of the Father. This was not theft but triumph. This was not presumption but due to the worthiness of the Preeminent Lamb. Jesus alone has the right to open the scroll because He alone has conquered by His blood. The destiny of creation is in the nail-scarred hand of the Lamb who is the Kinsman-Redeemer. Jesus is worthy because He is the unconquerable King (v. 6) When John turns to see the Lion worthy to open the scroll, he sees “a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain.” The One who knew no sin and became sin for us bears every scar from the cross as a reminder that His sacrifice was once for all: “the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Pet. 3:18)! The Lamb stands because death could not keep Him. The Lamb stands because the grave could not hold Him! The Lamb stands even though He was rejected by men, condemned by rulers, mocked by the religious leaders, and nailed to the cross... He stands at the center of heaven’s throne room, victorious. His wounds testify to His triumph. The Lamb who was slain is worthy because He is the King who cannot be conquered. Jesus is worthy because He is the Omniscient King (v. 6) The unconquerable King is seen with seven horns and seven eyes. As you may recall, in Scripture, horns symbolize strength, power, and sovereign authority, while eyes symbolize sight, wisdom, and knowledge. The number seven points to fullness and perfection, which means the Lamb who was slain is not weak but all-powerful, not limited but limitless, not unaware but all-seeing. He shares the wisdom and sovereignty of the Ancient of Days. Nothing escapes His sight. No enemy can hide from Him. No suffering saint is forgotten by Him. No act of faithfulness goes unnoticed by Him. The Lion, who is the Lamb, sees all and reigns over all by the fullness of the Spirit sent into all the earth. Jesus is worthy because He is the King whose reign is as extensive as His holiness, goodness, justice, love, grace, and mercy. Jesus is worthy because He is creation’s Lord (vv. 7-8) The living creatures and elders fall before Him because the Lamb is creation’s Lord through Whom all of creation exists. The four living creatures represent the created order, and the twenty-four elders represent the redeemed people of God. The worship that belongs to the Lord God Almighty is directed to Jesus not only because of what He has done, but also because of who He is. All things were created through Him and for Him (Col. 1:16), and now all creation bows before Him as One who is equal with the Father. The Lamb who was slain is worthy because He is the Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and rightful Lord over all things. Jesus is worthy because He was slain as the sinner’s ransom (v. 9) The blood of the Lamb is the price of our redemption. The new song of heaven celebrates this: “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation...” The Lion of Judah is the willing Lamb who stands before those He came to save; He is the Kinsman-Redeemer that creation needs. The price was not the religious deeds of fallible man, but the life of the second Adam, who lived the life we could not live and died the death we deserved. We were once enslaved by sin and stood condemned before God as guilty sinners, but Jesus gave His life to ransom us and set us free for God.  Jesus is worthy because He was slain in our place, bore the judgment we deserved, paid the debt we could not pay, and purchased us by His precious blood. Jesus is worthy because He redeemed a people for mission (vv. 9-10) Jesus did not ransom, redeem, and save sinners from condemnation merely so they could occupy space in His kingdom; He redeemed them for His kingdom purposes. We are not only forgiven of our sins; we are restored to the purpose for which humanity exists. Jesus saved us to send us into the world as His ambassadors and the Father’s priests. We are priests before God, and we live under the reign of Christ as citizens of His kingdom. This is why Peter says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). Jesus is worthy not only because He rescued us from the wrath of God we deserved, but also because He restored us to what we were created to be. Jesus is worthy because He is the song of the angels (vv. 11-12) After the song of the four living creatures and the new song of the twenty-four elders, John turns his attention to what he hears around the throne. What he hears is an innumerable host of angels resounding with praise:  “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,  to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might  and honor and glory and blessing!”  The angels erupt in praise after those who represent redeemed humanity conclude theirs. Why? Because the second person of the Trinity took upon Himself human flesh, was born of a virgin, and came to redeem a lost, rebellious, and cursed race (Phil. 2:1-11). This is something angels find baffling, for Peter tells us that our salvation

    46 min

  7. May 3

    The Lion and the Lamb

    “The cannibals! You will be eaten by cannibals!” That was the warning John G. Paton received when he announced his call to take the gospel to the New Hebrides. An older man in his church—known simply as Mr. Dickson—tried to dissuade him. From a human standpoint, the concern was understandable. Paton’s ministry in Glasgow was thriving. Hundreds gathered each week, lives were being changed, and the work was fruitful. Why would anyone leave such a place? The New Hebrides were known as one of the most dangerous mission fields in the world. Just nineteen years earlier, in 1839, missionaries John Williams and James Harris had landed there and were killed within hours. Their deaths were still fresh in the minds of many, and the opposition Paton faced came not from enemies of the gospel, but from concerned Christian friends. Reflecting on this moment, Paton later wrote, “The opposition was so strong from nearly all… that I was sorely tempted to question whether I was carrying out the Divine will… This also caused me much anxiety, and drove me close to God in prayer.”   Paton replied to Dickson’s warning: “Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or by worms; and in the Great Day my Resurrection body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.” The danger was real, the opposition was understandable, and the cost was high—but Paton was convinced that Christ was worthy, even there. When Paton arrived in the New Hebrides in 1858, the cost became immediate. Within weeks of landing on the island of Tanna, his wife, Mary, and their newborn son both died of fever. Paton buried them with his own hands and even slept on their grave to protect it. It would have been understandable for him to leave. Yet he did not abandon his calling. For over forty years, he labored among those islands, convinced that Christ was worthy and that even the hardest soil was not beyond the reach of God’s saving power. Paton’s story did not end with his life. It helped fuel a missionary movement. The gospel did not stop in the New Hebrides; it continued to spread across the Pacific, eventually reaching places like Papua New Guinea, where the cost remained high and the danger real. Even today, the fruit of that gospel work remains. Why would a man risk everything for such a mission? Paton went because he believed Christ was worthy of whatever sacrifice it would cost to bring the gospel to those who had never heard—even at the risk of his own life. Revelation 5:6–10 shows us why.   The Lion is a Lamb (v. 6) Remember what the scroll represents. In Revelation 5:1–4, John’s attention turns to a scroll in the right hand of God—a scroll that contains His sovereign plan to judge evil, redeem His people, and restore all creation from the curse of sin. It is held securely by the One who rules history with perfect authority. Within it lies the full scope of redemptive history: God’s judgments, the vindication of suffering saints, the defeat of sin and death, and the final restoration of all things—including the new heaven and new earth. It holds both justice and hope—the outpouring of God’s wrath on evil and the fulfillment of His promises to save, dwell with, and rejoice over His people forever. But as a mighty angel asks, “Who is worthy to open the scroll?”, a crisis unfolds. No one in heaven, on earth, or under the earth is found worthy, and John begins to weep. And rightly so—because if the scroll remains sealed, God’s promises go unfulfilled, sin goes undefeated, and redemption never reaches its goal. At that moment, everything hangs in the balance. Then a voice breaks the silence: “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered” (v. 5). The answer is not found in human strength or angelic power, but in a person—the promised King, the fulfillment of every promise of God, the One who alone has the right to redeem. And it is this Lion—this conquering King—that John turns to see. Yet when he turns, he is confronted with something utterly unexpected. Between the throne and the four living creatures stands a Lamb as though it had been slain. The promised Lion reveals Himself as the sacrificial Lamb of God. Victory has not come through crushing God’s enemies but through the crushing of the Son of God, who willingly and obediently went to the cross “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter” (Isa. 53:7), bearing the iniquities of sinners. What John sees is not a contradiction but the key to everything. The Lion has conquered—but He has conquered as a Lamb. He stands triumphant, bearing the marks of the cross. John understood what this meant, and we must understand it as well: the One who is worthy is the One who has given Himself for you. However, John not only sees a Lamb—he sees a Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes. In Scripture, horns symbolize power and kingship, and seven signifies divine completeness. This Lamb possesses perfect, sovereign authority. His seven eyes represent complete divine wisdom and perception, corresponding to the sevenfold Spirit of God sent out into all the earth. Nothing escapes His sight, and no judgment exceeds His wisdom. These are not random details—they are a testimony. The One who stands at the center of the throne is not merely a symbol of sacrifice but the One of whom Jeremiah spoke: “Yahweh our Righteousness” (Jer. 23:6). He is the Lion of Judah, the Lamb who was slain, and the sovereign Lord over all. Yet this is not all that John sees and experiences. The Lion who is a Lamb is also the Redeemer.    The Lamb is the Redeemer (vv. 7-8) This Lamb is worthy not only because of who He is but also because of what He has done. The Lamb is the Redeemer. In the Old Testament, a kinsman-redeemer was a family member who could step in when everything had been lost. But not just anyone could serve as a redeemer—he had to be a close relative by blood, possess the resources necessary to redeem, and be willing to do so. That is why Boaz could redeem Ruth, yet Boaz was only a shadow of a greater Redeemer to come. Naomi had lost everything—her husband, her sons, and her security. The land that belonged to her family was in danger of being lost forever. But Boaz, as a relative, stepped in. He had the means and was willing. By marrying Ruth, he redeemed the land, restored the family, and provided an heir. What was lost was restored, and what was empty was made full.   But what humanity needed most was not merely the restoration of what was lost—we needed the reversal of the curse, reconciliation with the God we sinned against, and the renewal of all things. When Adam sinned, all was ruined—sin entered the world, death followed, and creation fell under the curse of his rebellion. What was needed was a true and better Redeemer—one who could stand in the place of fallen humanity and restore what had been lost. This is what makes Jesus worthy to open the scroll. He became one of us so that He could be the Kinsman-Redeemer we need. He has the power to redeem because He is fully God. His willingness to redeem was demonstrated in that He embraced the cross, bearing our sin and becoming our curse. That is why, in Revelation 5, He steps forward and takes the scroll—because He alone meets every requirement. He alone is the Kinsman-Redeemer. Through His incarnation, Jesus shares in our humanity. Through His divine Sonship, He possesses infinite authority as One equal with the Father. Through His willing sacrifice, He demonstrates beyond question His desire to redeem. The wounds of the Lamb are the proof of His willingness—and the scroll in His hand is the declaration of His worthiness. Now, do not miss what happens in verse 8! Upon taking the scroll, the four living creatures—whose appearance represents the created order—fall before the Lamb in worship. The same creatures who, in the previous chapter, declared of the One on the throne, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come” (4:8) now fall before the Lamb to worship Him! And if that were not enough, the twenty-four elders—representing the people of God in both the Old and New Testaments—also fall before the Lamb in worship. How do we know they worship Him? Because they serve Him—offering songs to Him and presenting the prayers of His people before Him. They fall before the Lamb because He is the One who stands as our High Priest. For all of Scripture testifies, Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb. 4:14-16) Do not miss the significance of this moment. In Exodus 20, God commands: “You shall not make for yourself an idol… You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…” (Exod. 20:4–5; BSB). Worship belongs to God alone. All of Scripture is clear—no created thing is worthy of worship. Yet in Revelation 5, all creation—represented by the living creatures—falls before the Lamb. The elders fall before the Lamb. Heaven itself erupts in worship directed to the Lamb. What does this mean? It means the Lamb is not merely part of creation—He is the reason creation exists. The Lamb whom heaven worships is the One Scripture testifies to: “For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and i

    43 min

  8. Apr 26

    Behold the Scroll

    In 2016, I was gifted a second-generation Apple Watch. Since then, I’ve worn a smartwatch almost exclusively—until recently. I still wear my Apple Watch, but I now also wear a mechanical watch—one that needs neither a battery nor a charging cable. It runs on a finely engineered system of gears, springs, and a self-winding rotor that winds as I move my wrist. When I wear it, I’m wearing a timepiece with hundreds of tiny components working in harmony—visible through the caseback, moving like a heartbeat. There is an older and grander clock in our world—the Strasbourg Cathedral Astronomical Clock, located inside the Cathédrale Notre-Dame in France. The clock you see today is more than 180 years old, yet it stands in a long tradition of timekeeping at that very location stretching back centuries. It does far more than tell time; it tracks the calendar, calculates leap years and the date of Easter, and reflects the movements of the heavens. Though it may appear complex—almost chaotic—every gear turns exactly when it is supposed to. Nothing is random. Everything functions according to a precise, intentional design. If this is true of a man-made clock, how much more is it true of history itself? Scripture shows that history is not random but ordered—designed and directed by the One who sits on the throne. This is what we saw in Revelation 4. John was given a glimpse of heaven’s throne room, and what he saw was not chaos but the Lord who orders all of creation according to His will. What John saw was a God sovereign over all things, faithful to His promises, and worthy of all worship. What John experienced was a creation that is oriented toward the Lord God Almighty (Rev. 4:8). But as the vision continues into Revelation 5, something shifts. The throne remains, and the One seated upon it has not changed. Yet now our attention turns to the scroll that is in His right hand—and to a tension that brings all of heaven to a standstill. Before we consider the scroll, we must understand why it is in His right hand.   The One Who Holds the Scroll (v. 1a) If creation is ordered by a sovereign God, history cannot be random or out of control. The fact that the scroll is in the right hand of the Lord God Almighty is not incidental—it is significant. In the song of Moses (Exod. 15), we are given a glimpse into what the right hand of God represents: “Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy” (v. 6; NASB). The right hand is the hand of strength, authority, and power. It is the hand by which God acts. What is held in the right hand of God is not uncertain or fragile—it is secure. He holds it because He is sovereign, all-powerful, and unstoppable. This is why we know that all that exists, does so as a creation ordered, directed, and sustained by the sovereign hand of the God who has been, who is, and who will be on the throne. This is the God of whom the prophet Isaiah writes:  “...remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.” (Isa. 46:9-11) When the apostle Paul addressed the philosophers in Athens, he spoke of this same God: “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth… gives to all mankind life and breath and everything… having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place… for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’” (Acts 17:24–28). All of history is moving in one direction. There are no do-overs, no rewinds, and no pause buttons for the trajectory of history or where it is headed. History is a current you cannot stop, and its force carries everything forward. In that stream, our lives are a flash—a moment that is here and then gone (Jas. 4:13-17). And yet, if we are honest, most of our lives are lived with little consideration for this God—the One who created all things and who is sovereign over it all. He is not bound by time, because He created it. He has determined the appointed times and boundaries not only of mankind, but of all creation. He has no needs, and yet He is the One who “gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). This is the One who sits upon the throne. A verse from the Bible appeared on one of my social media feeds, and I want to share it with you: “Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word” (Ps. 119:37). The Hebrew word for “worthless” (שָׁוְא, šāwe’) refers to what is empty, vain, futile, and ultimately inconsequential. If there is no God, and if the Bible is not true, then the “worthless” things are all that we have. If the Bible is true—and the God revealed in its pages is real—then the words of C. T. Studd are not just poetic; they are a call to action: Only one life, yes only one, Soon will its fleeting hours be done; Then, in “that day” my Lord to meet, And stand before His judgment seat; Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.   Only one life, the still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice; Bidding me selfish aims to leave, And to God’s holy will to cleave; Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.   The Significance of the Scroll (v. 1b) So what is the scroll? Theologians and scholars have offered different ideas and suggestions based on what they have read in the book of Daniel and elsewhere. The key to understanding the scroll is to pay attention to what happens when each of its seals is broken. We must pay careful attention to what happens when its seals are broken. As each seal is broken, the process of judgment, redemption, and restoration begins. This is not simply information to be shared; it is a purposeful plan set into action.  The most direct Old Testament parallel is found in Ezekiel 2:9–10, listen to what the prophet Ezekiel said about a scroll he saw: “And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.”  What the prophet saw was a scroll written on both sides, filled with words of lamentation, mourning, and woe. You will see this when we get to Revelation 6, but for now what you need to know is that as the seals on the scroll are broken, sorrow, judgment, and woe are released throughout the earth.  So, let me tell you what the scroll represents. It represents God’s righteous judgments, but it is more than that. The presence of all seven seals symbolizes perfect fullness and absolute inviolability. What does that mean? It means no one will be able to crack the code to hack the scroll, because it is secure.   But that is not all. Within the scroll are the seven trumpets and the seven bowls of the wrath of God—through which the full and just judgment of God is poured out on all who are not covered by the blood of the Lamb. Yet the scroll is not only about judgment. Within it is the vindication of suffering saints, the removal of the curse of sin, the death of death itself, the new heaven and the new earth, and the physical presence of the Kingdom of God dwelling with His people. Within this scroll is the fulfillment of what the prophet Isaiah promised: “So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee” (Isa. 51:11; BSB). And within it is the day when God Himself will rejoice over His people, as Zephaniah declares: “The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing” (Zeph. 3:17). Listen: the scroll is not merely a record of events—it is the will and testament of God, revealing His sovereign plan to judge evil, redeem His people, and restore creation. The scroll contains the full scope of God’s redemptive plan and is held securely in the right hand of the One seated on the throne. He who holds the scroll in His right hand is the Father, who declares, “My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish” (Isa. 46:10; BSB). The seven seals signify that His plan is complete, perfect, and unstoppable—but there will be no wiping away of tears, no fleeing of sorrow and sighing, nor the Father’s rejoicing and singing over the redeemed if it is not opened!    Only One Can Open the Scroll (vv. 2-5) After seeing the scroll in the right hand of the Father, John then sees a “mighty” (ischyros) angel who proclaims with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” The word ischyros is used only three times in Revelation to describe an angel, meaning “strong” or “mighty.” Each time it appears, it marks a decisive moment in the unfolding of God’s purposes—whether announcing what is to come or signaling final judgment. But in Revelation 5, the mighty angel does not act—he proclaims. With a voice that thunders throughout heaven, he asks the question on which everything depends: “Who is worthy?” This is not a question of strength or ability, but of worthiness. The question is not arbitrary—it is necessary. If the scroll is the deed of creation and contains the Father’s plan and purpose to judge evil, redeem sinful humanity, and restore a cursed creation, it cannot be opened by just anyone. What is required is not mer

    36 min
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Podcast for Meadowbrooke Church Season 1 - Identity (Ephesians) Season 2 - Christians Say the Darnedest Things - Season 2 Season 3 - The Shepherd (Psalm 23) Season 4 - Faith & Works (James) Season 5 - Guest Speakers Season 6 - The Tree Season 7 - Unassigned Season 8 - Revelation

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  • Creator
    Meadowbrooke Church
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Meadowbrooke Church
  • Show Website
    Meadowbrooke Church